AUBURN — The community members who served on the Building Committee to design the new Edward Little High School had different reasons for volunteering.

Leonard Kimble has children who can benefit from a new high school and wanted to participate in its design. Sue Mercier has two sons who have long since graduated, but she cares about the school’s future.

And despite some criticism that befell the committee about the way the upcoming referendum to approve the school would be worded, the members said they joined the committee with their own tax dollars in mind, too.

“So many parents feel like they don’t have a voice in what is decided with our schools,” committee member Beth Favreau said. “I wanted an opportunity to try and change that. As a taxpayer, I am very conscious of what impact a project of this size will have on our property taxes.”

In the end, the Building Committee volunteers described the past two years as a time-consuming-but-rewarding experience they hope will result in a first-class school. The committee met at least once a month since the start of 2017, including a flurry of recent meetings when it faced some of its most difficult decisions.

When the Building Committee was first announced in late 2016, it was stipulated it would include two School Committee members, two city councilors, the high school principal, a high school staff member, a student representative and “four parents and/or citizens representing a cross-section of the community.” (The fourth was Jonathan Bausman, who could not be reached for this story.)

Mercier said she, her husband and their two sons graduated from Edward Little.

“I was interested in the process,” she said, “and really wanted to see where my tax dollars were going, and to improve the education for future generations.”

The stated goal of the committee was to recommend a design to the School Committee, including “materials and other such elements and features necessary to construct a building to meet the current and future needs of students.”

To arrive at a final design, the committee conducted a public survey and held public meetings and a straw poll on top of working in subcommittees and with the architect. Ultimately, the biggest decisions were the “extras” added to the project that are not funded by the state. Which elements, including a stadium with a competition track and a 1,200-seat performing arts center, are local taxpayers willing to fund?

Perhaps the committee’s most criticized decision was recommending the June 11 referendum feature only a single question to approve $122 million in spending. Ultimately, the School Committee and City Council agreed to pose two questions.

Asked about the level of public scrutiny the committee was under, the members said they expected it. After all, the end project is $122 million — making it the most expensive school to be built in Maine — with local taxpayers potentially shelling out $15 million.

“I did expect this process to have a lot of public scrutiny,” Favreau said. “People are passionate about the subject and that’s a great thing.”

“I expected it and welcomed it,” Kimble said.

Both he and Mercier noted members of the public had every chance to weigh in on the new school.

“Almost every one of our meetings were live-streamed or available to view online,” Kimble said. “This has been a public process from the start.”

“We had numerous public forums where people were encouraged to attend and give ideas and opinions,” Mercier said. “I wished more people from the community would have been involved.”

As the June 11 referendum approaches, the members can see the finish line.

Asked their thoughts on the final product, the members said they are enthusiastic and proud.

Favreau said she feels the architects and Building Committee have designed a structure and site the students, staff and community will enjoy and that will be a source of pride for many years.

She said she is also hoping the new school can help continue discussions on improving education in Auburn, focusing on reducing classroom sizes and increasing test scores and graduation rates.

Kimble said he hopes residents approve the two questions to build the school “as designed.”

“A lot of hard work went into deciding the location and designing every feature of the school,” he said.

Over the past two years, each Building Committee member has also served on a subcommittee responsible for a specific part of the project.

Mercier said she was “lucky enough” to be in on the hiring of the architect and touring other schools.

Kimble said it was “enlightening” for committee members to understand the relative costs of items and features for which the state would and would not pay. Those decisions are ultimately what the community will decide June 11.

Mercier said her time on the committee was “so interesting and informative” that she hardly noticed the hours racking up.

“Two years,” she said, “flew by like nothing.”

Harriman architect Lisa Sawin meets with the Building Committee to discuss the proposed design and costs of a new Edward Little High School in Auburn.